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Higuain Focused On Team Goals

By: Adam Jardy

The Columbus Dispatch - July 26, 2013 12:37 PM

As the Crew’s captain and offensive focal point, Federico Higuain has plenty of pressure on his
shoulders. But when asked if also carrying the mantle of the team’s designated player has added any
extra pressure to perform, the Spanish-speaking Higuain needed no translator for his response.

“No,” he quickly replied.

Saturday’s game at Toronto FC marks Higuain’s 34th as a member of the Crew, amounting to one
full MLS season spread across two years. I profiled him in today’s paper (here’s a
link) but, but I suggest picking up a hard copy. Our layout staff did a great job and I’m not
sure the text-only version does it justice.

In the article, I mention how only one of Higuain’s goals have not come via the penalty spot
this season. I took the top 10 players in shots on goal and divided them by their total number of
non-penalty goals to get the average of shots on target to goals. Here’s what I found:

It’s another reminder of how much this Crew team has struggled to finish its chances. The Crew
ranks sixth in shots taken but 13th in goals.

“It’s just taking a shot,” head coach Robert Warzycha said of Higuain’s shot-to-goals ratio. “
That means he’s making a decision. The last game we played in Toronto he took two shots, and one
hit the crossbar and one hit the post. Teams aren’t giving him free kicks from the right spots
where he can score from those. I can’t remember the last time we had a free kick in front of the
box that gave him a chance to show what he could do. Probably he would have more goals if we had
more free kicks.

“Penalties, it’s tough to take a penalty. As easy as it sounds, it’s not that easy to take one.
Brian McBride or Jeff Cunningham, they scored a lot of goals from penalties. That’s a part of the
game and part of the technique you have to have. To me, it doesn’t matter if you score on a penalty
or run of play. Look what happened against New York when we didn’t’ score. We lost that game,
probably a game we should have won.”

As for Higuain, however, most of his talk centered on trying to make the team better rather than
focusing on his own statistics and achievements.

“I don’t want to say that it’s a season because the games I played last year were completely
different from the ones I’ve played already this year,” he said through a team interpreter. “
Different things happen. Right now what I’m worried about is not the time I’ve spent with the team
but the way the team is doing. Like everybody else, I’m worried about trying to get three points
several times in a row. I’m not thinking about my personal performance or what I’ve done since
joining the Crew. “

Asked how he judges whether he has been successful or not, Higuain said, “I always think about
the team. I always try to do whatever I can do to help the team. It’s not about individual
performance – it’s a team sport. I’m trying to help in my way to make the team successful.”

Owing to his talents, the coaching staff is giving him more freedom to do so than perhaps other
players. Warzycha said most of the team’s offense centers around trying to allow Higuain to create
chances for himself and his teammates.

It’s why statistics like the ones above do not concern Warzycha.

“You have to build the team around some players and (Higuain) is one of them,” he said. “If he
can be successful on the field, the team can be successful. If he can have more touches, he will be
more successful. Obviously it’s not his fault that we’ve missed some opportunities and some chances
to score.”